No human system can feed the soul. It has to come into immediate and quickening contact with the living and powerful Word of God in order to be spiritually nourished. Even where real Christians are concerned, many had their religious beliefs formed before they were converted, receiving them from their parents or the churches they attended, and not directly from God and His Word. Therefore, they too need to heed this divine injunction. prove all things, hold fast that which is good, bring your beliefs to test of the scriptures, and you are likely to discover that it is much harder and more painful to unlearn some things than it is to learn new ones. Very few think for themselves, and fewer still are really willing to buy the truth and set aside their former opinions, no matter what may be the cost. Much grace is needed for that, since the eternal interests of our souls are involved. It is the height of folly for us to depend upon the judgment of others, for the ablest ministers are fallible and liable to error. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. Acts 17.11 Those Bereans sat in judgment upon the teaching of the Apostles. They were commanded for doing so. Not only was it their privilege and duty, but it is recorded to their honor. But mark how they discharged this duty. They brought all that they heard from the spoken discourse to the test of the written word. They did not judge by their own preconceptions, views, prejudices, feelings, or partialities. but by God's word. If what they heard was in accord therewith, they were bound to receive and submit to it, but if it was contrary thereto, they were equally bound to refuse and reject the ministry that taught it. That is recorded as an example to us. It reveals how we are to exercise this privilege of private judgment. The apostles claimed to be sent of God, but were they really preaching the truth? The Bereans gave them a ready hearing, but took the trouble to examine and try their teaching by the Scriptures, and searched them daily whether they were so. Do thou likewise, and remember that Christ commanded the Ephesian saints, because they had tried those who said they were apostles, and found them liars." Revelation 2.2. The right of private judgment does not mean that each Christian may be a law unto himself. is still left lord over himself. We must beware of allowing liberty to degenerate into license. No, it means the right to form our own views from the scriptures, to be in bondage to no ecclesiastical authority, and be subject unto God alone. Two extremes are to be guarded against. Slavery to human authority and tradition, the spirit of self-will and pride, On the one hand, we are to avoid brine credulity. On the other hand, an affectation of independence or the love of novelty, which disdains what others believe in order to obtain a cheap notoriety of originality. Private judgment does not mean private fancy, but a deliberate conviction based on holy writ. Though I must not resign my mind and conscience to others, or deliver my reason and faith over blindfold to any church, yet I ought to be very slow in rejecting the approved judgment of God's servants of the past. There is a happy medium between limiting myself to what the Puritans and others taught and disdaining the help they can afford me. Self-conceit is to be rigidly restrained. Private judgment is to be exercised humbly, soberly, impartially, with a willingness to receive light from any quarter. Ponder the word for yourself, but mortify the spirit of hati, self-sufficiency, and be ready to avail yourself of anything likely to afford you a better understanding of the truth. Above all, daily beg the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. Prove all things when listening to your favorite preacher or reading his book. Accord your brethren the same right and privilege you claim for yourselves. Chapter 12 Christian Employees How intensely practical is the Bible. It not only reveals to us the way to heaven, but it is also full of instruction concerning how we are to live here upon earth. God has given his word unto us to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. That is for the regulating of our daily walk. It makes known how God requires us to conduct ourselves in all the varied relations of life. Some of us are single, others married, some have children, others parents, some are masters, others servants. Scripture supplies definite precepts and rules, motives and encouragements for each alike. It not only teaches us how we are to behave in the church and in the home, but equally so in the workshop and in the kitchen, supplying necessary exhortations to both employees and employers, clear proof God has not designed that all men should be equal, in such index that neither socialism nor communism will ever universally prevail. Since a considerable portion of most of our lives be spent in service, it is both for our good in God's glory that we heed these exhortations. A secular writer recently pointed out that work has increasingly come to be regarded as a distasteful means to the achievement of leisure, instead of leisure as a recuperative measure to refit us for work. That is a very mild way of saying that the present generation is pleasure-mad and hates any kind of real work. Various explanations have been advanced to account for this, such as the ousting of craftsmanship by machinery, the fear of unemployment, discouraging zeal, the doles, allowances and relief which are available for those who don't and won't work. Though each of these has been a contributing factor, yet there is a more fundamental and solemn cause of this social disease. namely the loss of those moral convictions which formerly marked a large proportion of churchgoers, who made conscience of serving the Lord while engaged in secular activities, and who were actuated by the principles of honesty and integrity, fidelity and loyalty. Nowhere has the hollowness of professing Christians been more apparent during the last two or three generations than at this point Nowhere has more reproach been brought upon the cause of Christ than by the majority of those employees who bore his name. Whether in the factory, the mine, the office, or in the field, one who claims to be a follower of the Lord Jesus should stand out unmistakably from his fellows, employees, who make no profession. His punctuality, his truthfulness, his conscientiousness, the quality of his work, his devotion to his employer's interests, ought to be so apparent that there is no need for him to let others know by his lips that he is a disciple of Christ. There should be such a marked absence of that slackness, carelessness, selfishness, greed, and insolence which marks the majority of the ungodly that all may see he is motivated and regulated by higher principles than they are. But if his conduct relies his profession, then his companions are confirmed in their opinion that there is nothing in religion but talk. Nor does the whole of the blame rest upon them. The pulpit is far from being guiltless in this matter. The Lord has expressly bidden his servants to preach thereon. as being a subject of great importance and an essential part of that doctrine which is according to godliness. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God in His doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are believing in beloved partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort, 1 Timothy 6, 1 and 2. But where is the minister today who does so? Alas, how many have despised and neglected such practical yet unpopular teaching? Desirous of being regarded as deep, they have turned aside unto doctrinal disputes or prophetical speculations which profit no one. God says if any man teach otherwise he is a fool knowing nothing. 1 Timothy 6 verses 3 and 4. Once again is the pastor divinely ordered, but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober, the aged women likewise, young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded, Are you, fellow minister, speaking upon these things? Are you warning servants that all needless absenteeism is a sin? of your church members who are employees that God requires them to make it their constant endeavor to give full satisfaction unto their masters in every part of their conduct, that they are to be respectful and not saucy, industrious and not indolent, submissive and not challenging the orders they receive? Do you teach them that their conduct either adorns or disgraces the doctrine they profess If not, you are sadly failing in carrying out your commission. In view of the almost total silence of the pulpit thereon, it is striking to see how frequently the New Testament epistles inculcate and enlarge upon the duties of employees. In Ephesians 6 we find the Apostle exhorting, Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ, not with eye service, as men pleases, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord, and not unto men. Verses 5 through 7. Christian servants are required to comply with the calls and commands of their employers, to do so with respectful difference to all their persons and authority, to be fearful of displeasing them, They are to be as diligent in their work as to discharge their duties with the same consciousness, solitude, when their master is absent, as when his eye is upon them. They are to perform their tasks with good will, not solemnly and reluctantly, but thankful for an honest means of livelihood. And all of this as the servants of Christ, careful not to dishonor Him by any improper behavior. but seeking to glorify Him, working from such motives as will sanctify our labors and make them a spiritual sacrifice unto God. In Colossians 3 the Apostle also exhorted, Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it hardly as to the Lord, and not unto men. verses 22 and 23. Every lawful command he must obey, however distasteful, difficult or irksome. He is to be faithful in every trust committed to him. Whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he must do it with his might, putting his very best into it. He is to do it readily and cheerfully, taking pleasure in his work. All is to be done as to the Lord, which will transform the secular into the sacred. Then it is added, knowing that of the Lord he shall receive the inheritance, for he served the Lord Christ. Verse 24. What encouragement to fidelity is that? But he that doeth wrong shall receive the wrong which he hath done. Verse 25. It is a solemn warning to deter from failure in duty For either in this world or the other, God will avenge all such injury." J. Gill. Servants, be subject to your masters, with all fear, not only to the good and gentile, but also to the forward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 1 Peter 2, 18 and 19. This repeated insistence of the apostles for employees discharging their duties properly indicates not only how much the glory of God is involved therein, but also that an unwillingness on their part makes such repetition necessary. Evidenced by those who take two or three days extra holiday by running off to religious meetings, thereby putting their masters in inconvenience. Holiness is much visible in our daily conduct, performing our tasks in such a spirit and with such efficiency as will commend the Gospel unto those we serve. Let it be borne in mind that these instructions apply to all servants, male and female, in every situation and condition. Let each reader of these pages who is an employee ask himself or herself How far am I really making a genuine, prayerful, and diligent endeavor to comply with God's requirements in the performance of my duties? Let no rules of unions, no regulations of shop stewards be allowed to set aside or modify these divine commandments. It is to be pointed out that the above precepts are enforced and exemplified in the scriptures by many notable examples See how the Spirit is delighted to take notice of the devotion of Eliezer when praying that the Lord God would send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Genesis 24, 12 And know how faithfully he acquitted himself and how well he spoke of his master. Jacob could say, Ye know that with all my power I have served. Genesis 31.6. Can you aver the same? Though heathen, his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight. Genesis 39 verses 3 and 4. What a testimony that was! Scripture also chronicles the unfaithfulness of Elisha's servants. and the fearful judgment which came upon him." 2 Kings 5 verses 20-27. Finally, let all domestics and employees remember that the servant place has been honored and adorned forever by the willing and perfect obedience of the incarnate Son of God. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10. Put your very best into it. PART FOUR GOD'S BEST IN THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE CHAPTER THIRTEEN ENJOYING GOD'S BEST INTRODUCTION Since God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, to speak of enjoying of his best, rather than his second or third best, and missing his best, strikes some as meaningless, if not erroneous, expressions Before proceeding further, let us explain what we intend by enjoying God's best. We mean, as we have written before, for the saint to have daily communion with God, to walk in the light of His countenance, for His word to be sweet unto our taste, light unto our understanding, strength to the inner man. It is for prayer to be a delight, for answers of peace to be received without intermission. for the channel of supplies to remain unchoked, open. It is to have the mind stayed upon Him, to have a conscience void of offense, to have full assurance of our acceptance in Christ. It is for our graces to be kept healthy and vigorous so that faith, hope, love, meekness, patience, zeal are all daily exercise. and such should be the experience of every Christian. By God's best we mean a personal experience of His appropriation, a manifest enjoyment of His favor and grace, in providence and in nature. It is not to be limited unto the receiving of His special favors in a spiritual way, but includes as well as His interpositions on our temporal behalf. It is to have the blessing of the Lord upon our lives in all their varied aspects and relations, upon the soul and body alike. It is to enjoy the sense of His approval and have Him showing Himself strong in our behalf. Though it does not mean that such a one will be exempted from the ordinary vicissitudes of trials of life, but rather that such will be sanctified unto Him and result in increased blessing, for they not only make a way for God to put forth His power in delivering Him from them or elevating His heart above them, but they also serve for the developing of His graces and provide opportunities for Him to glorify Him in the fire. Nevertheless, it does mean that such a one will escape those troubles and afflictions in which the follies of so many Christians involve them. It does mean that he will be immune from those sore chastisements which disobedience and a course of backsliding necessarily entail. Before considering those just requirements of God which must be met if we are to enjoy his best, let us point out that the particular aspect of truth which is here engaging our attention concerns not the divine decrees but rather the divine government, for the one consists solely of the exercise of God's sovereign will, whereas the other is concerned also with the discharge of our responsibility. In no sense whatsoever is there the slightest failure in God's accomplishment of His eternal purpose, either as a whole or in any of its parts. But in many respects God's people fail to process their possessions and enjoy those privileges and blessings to which the blood of Christ entitles them. This subject presents no difficulty to the writer, except the finding of suitable language to accurately express his thoughts, nor should it be to the reader. The formation and effectuation of God's eternal decrees are in no wise affected by man. He can neither delay nor hasten them. but the present government of this world by God is, in large measure, affected and determined by the actions of men, his own people included, so that in this life they are, to a very considerable extent, made to reap according as they sow, both in spirituals and in temporals. It is not sufficiently realized that the Bible has far, very far, more to say about this present life than it has about the future one, that it makes known the secrets of temporal felicity as well as everlasting bliss. Granted that the latter is of immeasurably more importance than the former, yet the one is the prelude to the other. And unless God be our satisfying portion here, he certainly will not be so hereafter. In their zeal to tell men how to escape from hell and make sure of heaven, many evangelical preachers have had all too little to say upon our conduct on earth. And consequently, many who entertain no doubt whatever that they will inhabit a mansion in the Father's house are not nearly so much concerned about their present walk in warfare as they should be. Even though they reach their desired haven, Such slackness results in great loss to them now, and will do so forever. The teaching of Holy Writ is the very reverse of the plan followed by many in Orthodox pulpit. It not only gives much prominence to, but in Old and New Testament alike, its main emphasis is on our life in this world, giving instruction how we are to conduct ourselves here now. In like manner, there has been a grievous departure from the agony of faith in the presentation of the attitude of God in His conduct towards men. Few indeed who have stressed the sovereignty of God have given even a proportionate place to His governmental dealings, either with nations or with individuals, the elect or the reprobate. Yet for every passage in His Word which speaks of God's eternal counsels, there are scores which describe His time dealings, and for every verse that alludes to God's secret or discreet will, there is a hundred which describe His revealed and perceptive will. Blessed indeed is it to ponder God's predestinating grace. Equally important is it that we study those principles which regulate his providential dealings with us. The governmental ways of God, that is, his dealings with us in this life, both in our spiritual and temporal affairs, are determined by something more than an arbitrary sovereignty. God has established an inseparable connection between our conduct and its consequences, and he acts in such a way towards us as to make manifest the pleasure he takes in righteousness and to give encouragement to those performing it, as he evidences his displeasure against the unrighteous and makes us too smart for the same. It is a very great and serious mistake to conceive of the sovereignty of God as swallowing up all his perfections, and to attribute all his actions unto the mere exercise of his imperial will. Holy Writ does not, nor should we do so. Instead, such is said therein of God's acting both in mercy and righteousness, for they are the chief principles which regulate His governmental ways. It is true that mercy is shown by a mere prerogative. Romans 9.18 But not so with righteousness. God can no more suspend the operation of His righteousness than He can cease to be. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. Psalm 11, 7. The Lord is righteous in all His ways. Psalm 145, verse 17. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne. Psalm 97, verse 2. It was predicted of the Messiah that righteousness should be the girdle of His loins. Isaiah 11, 5. And we are told that since he loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Psalm 45 verse 7. Alas, that so many have completely lost the balance between God's sovereignty and God's righteousness. It is His righteousness which regulates all His dealings with the sons of men now. as it is in righteousness he will judge them in the day to come. It is his righteousness which requires God to punish vice and reward virtue, and therefore does he bless his obedient children and chasten his refractory ones. The central thing which we wish to make clear and to impress upon the reader is that God established an inseparable connection between holiness and happiness. between our pleasing of him and our enjoyment of his richest blessing, that since we are always the losers by sinning, so we are always the gainers by walking in the paths of righteousness, and that there will be an exact ratio between the measure in which we walk therein and our enjoyment of the peaceable fruits of righteousness. God has declared them that honor me, I will honor." 1 Samuel 2.30. And that expresses the general principle which we are here seeking to explain and illustrate. Namely that God's governmental dealings with us are regulated by our attitude toward Him and our conduct before Him. In proportion as we honor the Lord, so will He honor us. But suppose we fail to honor God. Suppose we do not obtain from Him that grace which He is ever ready to give unto those who earnestly seek it in a right way. What then? Why, we should not enter into his best for us. We shall miss it. For as the same verse goes on to tell us, And they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1.8. That expresses in plain and simple language the basis on which we may enter into and enjoy God's best for us. The believer is not to be regulated by his own inclinations or lean into his own understanding. He is not to be governed by any consideration of expediency or the pleasing of his fellows, but seek to please God in all things, being actuated by a thus saith the Lord in everything he does. Nothing less than full and constant obedience to God is what is required of him. However distasteful to the flesh whatever sneers it may produce from professing Christians, the saint must rigidly and perpetually act by the rule that God has given him to walk by. In so doing he will immeasurably be the gainer. For the path of obedience is the path of prosperity. Conformity unto the revealed will of God may indeed entail trial. Nevertheless, it will be richly compensated in this life, both in spiritual and temporal bounties. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that the path of God's precepts is a way of blessing, though the treading thereof incurs the frowns of the profane world. in the criticisms of not a few of the professing world, yet it ensures the smile and benediction of our Master. Those words, for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, are from the mouth of the God of truth, and are to be received by us without the slightest quibbling, and treasured in our hearts. The prosperity does not always immediately appear, for faith has to be tried and patience developed. Yet in the long run it will most surely be found that in keeping the divine commandments there is great reward." Psalm 19 verse 11. So Joshua found it. He adhered strictly to the divine law and God crowned his labors with success. And that, dear reader, is recorded for our encouragement. Yet if we would prosper as Joshua did, then we must act as he did. That conditional promise made to Joshua was very far from being a special one made to him only. Rather, does it belong equally to every servant and child of God, for his governmental ways have been the same in all dispensations. From the beginning of human history it has always been true, and to the very end of history it will continue to be so. That no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Psalm 84, verse 11. Long before Joshua was born, Elihu had affirmed, if they obey and serve him, they will spend their days in prosperity, in their years in pleasure. Job 36.11 The centuries after Joshua's death, the Holy Spirit declared through Zechariah, Thus saith the Lord, Why transgress ye the command of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? 2 Chronicles 24.30 nor is there any justification to insist that such statements pertain only to the Mosaic economy. If we unhesitantly apply to our own day that precious word in Isaiah 118, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Is it honest to refuse taking unto ourselves the very next verse, if ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. The principles which regulate God's providential dealings with His people are in no way altered by any change made in the outward form of His kingdom upon earth. The teaching of the New Testament is equally expressed, that godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. If the fulfillment of that promise is conditional upon our keeping of the divine precepts, upon our personal piety, there is a definite provisio on which we are warranted to hope for an enjoyment of God's best. That was announced by Joshua and Caleb when they set unto Israel. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us. Numbers 14 verse 8. That term delight has no reference there unto that divine love unto the souls of believers which is the source of their salvation, but rather to his complacency in their character and conduct. So also is it to be understood in the words used by David when he was fleeing from the conspiracy of Absalom carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again and show me both it and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, behold, here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth good unto him." 2 Samuel chapter 15 verses 25 and 26. David certainly did not mean that by language, if God have no love for my soul, I am willing to be forever banished from him. For such submission is required of none who lives under a dispensation of mercy. Rather did he signify, if God approve not of me as I am the head of his people, let him take away my life, if that so pleaseth him. As we must distinguish between the twofold will and twofold counsel, and twofold pleasure of God, so he must between the eternal love for, and his present delight in us, between his acceptance of us in Christ, and the acceptance of our character and conduct unto him. It is the latter which determines his governmental smile upon us. If any reader deems that distinction an artificial and forced one, then we ask him, is no differentiation to be made between those words of Christ unto the Father, Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world, John 17, 24. In his declaration, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, this commandment have I received of my Father, John 10, verses 17 and 18. He is not one the Father's love of Christ's person, and the other his approbation of his So again must we avoid confounding, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31.3. And for the Father loveth you because you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God, John 16.27. Of Enoch it is said, before the translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God, Hebrews 11.5. Whereas of Israel in the wilderness, He declared, I was grieved with this generation. Hebrews 3.10 It must not be inferred from what has been said above that the one who walks in the paths of righteousness brings God into his debt, or that he merits favor at his hands. Not so, for nothing that we can do profits God anything. And if we rendered perfect obedience unto every precept, we have merely performed our duty and rendered unto God what it is His rightful due. On the other hand, it is very plain that we profit from and are the gainers by our obedience. Scripture has not a little to say upon the subject of rewards. It goes so far as to teach that the joys of the future will bear definite relation in proportion to our conduct in the present, such as obtained between sowing and reaping. If then the future rewarding of the saints according to their work, Revelation 22.12, clashes neither with the grace of God nor the merit of Christ, then the present rewarding of them cannot do so. For no difference in place or condition can make any difference as to the nature of things. Deity does not hesitate to take as one of his titles the Lord God of recompenses, Jeremiah 51, 56, and many are the passages which show his recompensing righteousness even in this world. We have already alluded to Psalm 19, verse 11, where we are told of God's statutes and judgments, that in keeping of them there is great reward And we simply call attention now to the tense of that statement. Not shall be, but is so now. A part of that present reward is described in such verses as, Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend, the astumbling block to them. Psalm 119 verse 165. The work of righteousness, right doing, shall be peace. in the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever, Isaiah 32, 17. Such, too, is the testimony of Psalm 58, verse 11, so that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous. Verily he is a God that judges in, governs, administers the affairs of the earth. The righteous, that is, the one who practices conforms to the rule of righteousness, shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. To show that the Lord is upright, Psalm 92 verses 12 through 15, that is, to make evident that he takes notice of and richly blesses such. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, Proverbs 11, 31. On the other hand, the Lord will punish Jacob according to his ways. according to his doings will he recompense him." Hosea 12, verse 2. It is an unalterable law of the divine government that as we sow, so shall we reap. That principle is enunciated and illustrated all through these scriptures. On the one hand, they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. Hosea 8, 7. On the other, sow to yourselves in righteousness reap in mercy, Hosea 10, 12. Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same, Job 4, 8. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, Proverbs 1, 31. But to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward, Proverbs 11, 18. Our Lord taught precisely the same thing when He said, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting." Luke 18, verses 29 and 30. So too the apostles, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9.6. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. James 3.18. It is limitable that such passages are so rarely heard from the pulpit. It is right here that we have the key to a class of passages which have puzzled and perplexed not a few, namely those which speak of the Lord's repenting. To say that such an expression is a figure of speech. God's condescending to employ our language, so true, really explains nothing. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes and videos at great discounts is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.